Record student intake

Record student intake for city
Sep 1 2008 by Laura Sharpe, Liverpool Daily Post


Liverpool's waterfront

RECORD numbers of students will flock into Merseyside in the coming month as more young people than ever pick Liverpool as their first choice to study.

All of the city?s universities and Ormskirk?s Edge Hill campus have seen a rise in applications.

Liverpool John Moores is expecting 6,000 new full-time undergraduates which is up by 10% on student numbers recorded this time last year.

Over at Liverpool Hope University, which admits a fixed number of 1,600 new undergraduates, the number of postgraduates is higher than ever, a total of 600.

Applications at the University of Liverpool are also up, with 28,632 applications having to be whittled down to 4,600 new undergraduates.

Edge Hill University is also expecting a bumper crop of students, with admissions across all three faculties at an all time high.

Liverpool Hope has seen more students put the university as their first choice, with a 70% increase in international students from EU countries.

They have also seen an increase in transfer applications from existing students wanting to complete their degree in Liverpool.

University officials believe the extra students can only benefit the city?s attempt to grow its knowledge economy, as well as bringing a more immediate benefit of extra cash to businesses.

John McCarthy, director of marketing, recruitment and external relations at Liverpool Hope, said: ?Liverpool?s brand continues to grow both nationally and internationally, which helps cement the city as a premiere student destination within the UK.

?The growing number of students that all the local universities attracts can only benefit the city through an increasingly well-skilled workforce and a growing intellectual capital, which is the key driver of our knowledge and service economies.

?The immediate benefits to local businesses and cultural destinations continue to thrive with the power of the student pound.? Students themselves cite the cost of living and the Capital of Culture as major draws to study in the region.

Liz Williams, deputy president of Liverpool Guild of Students, said: ?A lot of my friends chose the city because of cheaper rents but I know the Capital of Culture has changed the old perception of the city and really put it on the map.

?It now has a hip, lively reputation and students are welcomed into the city. When you combine this with the good reputations of the universities, it is an appealing place to study.?

Edge Hill has already offered 1,500 conditional firm places, an increase of 100 from this time last year.

Anne Wilson, head of admissions, said: ?We?ve still more students to come and we?re expecting a bumper crop, the biggest in the 22 years I?ve worked in admissions.

?We now offer a much more diverse range of courses and not only attract students from the North West but also from Yorkshire, the North East and the south Coast.

?We are getting an international reputation and our rural campus based location makes us different from the city of Liverpool.

?The Capital of Culture has helped raise the profile of Merseyside which has also helped application numbers.?

Liverpool City Council considers attracting students and then retaining them as graduates integral to the economic success of the city.

Cllr Warren Bradley, leader of the council, said: ?We want more students in the city and want them to stay afterwards to attract further big companies into the region.

?Having a good base of graduates is integral to success and the development of the city.

?It?s good that it?s not only young people born and bred in Liverpool but young people from across the country who are coming to the city.

?Liverpool is being seen by young people as a vibrant city and the word on the street is that Liverpool?s not only a great place to study but also somewhere they can enjoy themselves.

?Being the Capital of Culture has helped attract more international students.?

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